A Different Squirrel

One of the things that I love about living here is what I might see each day. It could be looking up to find a deer watching me, spotting an unusual bird, discovering an owl in a nest box, raccoons at the feeders with their young, new fawns, or even a skunk outside when it’s time to let the dogs out at night. Just to name a few…

This morning I spotted a different type of squirrel at our feeder. This one is much smaller than our usual gray squirrel. The tail is less bushy. It has browner coloring to it.

Whatever type of squirrel it is, it didn’t like me taking pictures of it. This squirrel put up with a few flashes, and then started wiggling its tail rather violently in my direction. I tried opening the door to get a clearer picture of it, and it high-tailed it (pun intended) out of there.

Never a dull moment here.

Eyes On Me

Early this morning I was filling the back feeder and when I looked up, this deer was watching me.

I think she’s our mama with the twins, although the twins were not in sight. Regardless, she was eyeing me and the sunflower seed. Of course I saw her as hungry. And since I can’t help myself, I put out some extra sunflower seed right on the ground, just for her.

As I stepped away, she moved closer. Sure enough, she went right for the seed. What animal wouldn’t?

For this one morning anyway (and maybe another odd morning or two), I was glad to help her out. If the seed wasn’t put on the ground, she most likely would have hoisted herself up on her hind legs to eat out of the feeder I had just filled for the birds. “Our” deer often do that.

Oh, and now that we’re back home, the deer can’t quite as easily come up and eat our new grape-leaf growth, and the impatiens I had on the front deck. Which, by the way, are all gone now.

I’m keeping an eye on them too!

Happy Birthday Gracie!

Our family arrived back home a few days ago after a week-long trip back east. We were in Massachusetts for my mother’s memorial service, and then visited with family in Plymouth, MA and in Naples, Maine. We spent our last full day there driving down along the Maine coast.

We’re still getting caught up, but alas, time moves forward whether we’re ready or not.

Today is not only Father’s Day, but our dog Gracie’s eighth birthday. After being boarded at a doggie daycare for a week, she is content to be home and have things back to normal.

Same goes for Mia, Kitty, Hubert (our lovebird), and Budy (Justen’s parakeet). And our beloved wild birds are rediscovering food at the feeders again.

As we resume normalcy once again, we are celebrating our eight years with Gracie. She is a Scottie-poo who loves her walks, loves her treats, loves bananas, carrots, and apples, and loves to cuddle.

Happy Birthday Gracie!

Peaceful (?) Morning

This morning was the first morning this year that we woke up with our windows and doors open. Birdsongs and birdcalls were our morning music.

Coffee in hand, I went outside to sit in the sun and watch all the activity. There were the birds visiting the feeder, finches landing in the garden where the drip hoses were watering, a woodpecker jumping up a garden post, a robin sitting atop another garden post, and swallows swooping up high in the sky, sometimes landing on the roof. I watched as a pair of mourning doves flew to the first garden bed, and then proceeded to move over to each of the other four garden beds, one after the other. Whether they were eating bugs or eating the seeds I planted last weekend, I’m not sure.

It’s nice to know this is just the beginning. There will be many mornings to come where I can listen to and watch all the bird activity, the garden grow, and the deer that come around on a peaceful weekend morning.  

The Babies Are Here

They have arrived!

Yesterday we spotted, for the first time, the new twin fawns. Aren’t they adorable? It’s not unusual for does to have twins – at least not around here.

We have the good fortune to be witness to new fawns every spring, and often there is a set of twins. These two, and their mama, are looking very healthy. We are thankful for that.

For the next year we will watch as these two grow. They will be quite lively in the next few weeks. We’ll watch them nursing, running around and playing, and learning to be cautious from their mother. Eventually, as fall progresses, we’ll see their spots fade into winter coats.

But for now, we’ll just enjoy these new little beings.   

                                           Photo taken by Mark Noll

Planting Seeds

I’m excited. This coming weekend we celebrate Memorial Day and what better way than to plant seeds?

Getting our hands dirty while happily placing seeds into the soil, then tending to our gardens by watering and weeding – all the while watching as these seeds sprout and grow into full-sized plants bearing fruit (or vegetables as the case may be).

Is it not unlike our lives and our families? Our ancestors gave us life, nurtured us, and now we do the same. No wonder people enjoy gardening so much.

My parents gardened, as did their parents. I came to gardening a little later than most – although I’ve always grown houseplants. Gardening, planting seeds, is seasonal, it’s a ritual, and can be spiritual. And what a joy to watch something grow that you planted.

I had fun picking out packets of seeds today. And whether or not the sun shows up this weekend, we’ll be out there planting our seeds and being grateful for those who nurtured us.

Introducing...Kitty

Having written about Kitty before, I thought it was time I produced a picture of her.

Here she is in all her cat-like glory. She’s looking poised and sublime.

Except for some definite cat traits (like meowing and her occasional mousing habit), she often behaves like a dog. Trying to take her picture, for instance, she kept walking towards me every time I squatted down to get a better angle. And would you believe that she actually comes running in from outside when I call her? Sometimes even the dogs don’t do that!

We don’t know her age exactly because she was a stray cat that happened upon us one spring day about seven years ago. Not being a “cat person” back then, I said we could feed her but she was not coming in the house. We set up a safe, comfortable place for her to sleep out on our back deck. We weren’t going to name her either. We called her “Kitty” and that was that. 

She and I then got to know each other. I would sit outside and she would hop up on my lap, purr endlessly, and drool – while I discovered how soft she was and how she warmed up my lap. She knew how to break me down. As the weather became colder and the rains began to return that fall, off I went to Wal-Mart to purchase a litter box and a cat bed.

Kitty’s been a member of our family since. And I’m now a dog person and a cat person.